Follow-up: Arab passengers removed from UK flight come forward
posted at 11:48 am on August 23, 2006 by Allahpundit
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They sound surprisingly mellow and understanding compared to what you’d expect. Very cool.
I wouldn’t rule out possibility 2 entirely, but I do think possibility 3’s taken the lead. From the Mirror:
The pair, studying for degrees at Manchester’s Umist institution, believe the scare was sparked by an elderly lady sitting nearby.
Khurram said: “We were chatting away in Urdu and she kept looking at us.
“At first I didn’t really take any notice. I just thought perhaps she’d never seen an Asian person before.”
Sohail added: “She had to move to let us sit down and I knew straight away that something was bothering her.
“I tried my best to ignore her but she started asking me questions like where we lived and how long we had been in Malaga.
“When I told her we had only gone for the day she became even more suspicious. She kept saying that was a strange thing to do.
“Suddenly she got up and walked toward the cockpit.”
I think we can take an educated guess now how the “30 minutes left to live” nonsense got started.
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Yeah, right Allah. Ahmadinner Jacket sounded “surprisingly mellow and understanding” talking to Mike Wallace too. You’re being played.
Benthoven on August 23, 2006 at 12:06 PM
I could really, honestly, give two craps.
If these guys are just “Ordinary Lads” then they should be just as outraged at militant Islam as the rest of us “Oridnary People”. The day I see the likes of THOSE TWO marching in the street to protest Islamism is the day I’ll have sympathy for them.
Till then they can walk for all I care.
venmax on August 23, 2006 at 12:18 PM
My money’s on some combo of 2 and 3.
Kid from Brooklyn on August 23, 2006 at 12:19 PM
Possibility #3 may have very well been what happened.
If so, care to take a guess as to various things that have occurred over the past several years that just might have happened to fuel her so-called paranoia?
For bonus points, take a guess at which group has done next to absolutely nothing to dispel the (entirely rational) fears that drive such ‘paranoia’.
As we were so often told in the wake of 9/11, it’s time for them to ask “why do they hate us?”. The views so many of us hold regarding this particular group didn’t just pop up out of nothing.
thirteen28 on August 23, 2006 at 12:26 PM
Having been to both of these places I can tell you that flying from Manchester, England (which is near Ireland) all the way across the country and south to Malaga, SPAIN is not a normal day trip!
Flying over 1600 MILES ONE WAY for a DAY TRIP?
And if you are going to Spain you wear leather jackets and sweaters in the middle of Summer? Sorry..I dont buy this one bit!
labwrs on August 23, 2006 at 12:30 PM
It doesn’t matter whether you buy it or not. You’re being told to buy it and by golly you’ll buy it like it or not!
ScottG on August 23, 2006 at 12:33 PM
An “educated guess”? LOL.
Nah, these 2 guys are “dodgy” alright. “Ordinary Lads”? Nonsense. They’re muslims right? Heck, they’re even brown muslims! And didn’t they say they’d been drinking? Something is amiss here. Those fanatics never drink, and if they do, well gosh darn, they can’t even be true to their god! How can we trust them? Best we deprive them of their dignity!
Now I know I can count on you to defend my (your) rights. Nice one m8, thanks for that.
THeDRiFTeR on August 23, 2006 at 12:38 PM
Why oh why oh why are they referred to as “Asian Lads”?
And where’d they get the dinero to hop over to Spain for a day?
These idiots need to leard that when they go anywhere they need to start saying things like: “Hi, we’re Muslim, but we hate terrorists and we’re trying to help the authorities round them up. We also think burkkas (or what every those things are called) are ridiculous. Can I buy you a drink?”
-FatOldGuy
Fogpig on August 23, 2006 at 12:40 PM
Yeah. The educated guess is that old ladies sometimes don’t hear so well.
LOL!
Allahpundit on August 23, 2006 at 12:40 PM
Not even nearly. But hey, 2 points for trying.
THeDRiFTeR on August 23, 2006 at 12:41 PM
Even UK’s Daily Mirror couldn’t spin this one – #2 is confirmed.
“We might be Asian, but we’re two ordinary lads who wanted a bit of fun,” Mr Ashraf told the Daily Mirror.
Try not to vomit when you see the photo that the Mirror published, in an obvious attempt to make these sick, demented animals appear “mellow and understanding.” Maybe even cool.
Making statements tantamount to saying “I have a bomb” on an airplane is criminally prosecuted if evidence or witnesses confirm exactly what was said.
Sadly, any witnesses who come forth would need to disappear under the Witness Protection Act for testifying against a muslim. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
*gag me*
Benthoven on August 23, 2006 at 12:44 PM
I don’t think they were referring there to what happened on the plane. They were referring to why they went to Malaga. For a fun day trip.
Allahpundit on August 23, 2006 at 12:47 PM
Labwrs–
When I lived in England it was nothing to hop a RyanAir flight to the continent–Spain, Italy, wherever. It is a plausible day trip.
Fogpig–
Pakistanis and Indians have pretty much always been called “asians” in England. It’s not a euphemism, it’s just English English.
see-dubya on August 23, 2006 at 12:52 PM
Actually DRifter having flown out of Manchester several times I can tell you it most certainly IS near Ireland! It is on the NW coast of England and across the Irish Sea is Ireland. Look at a map.
labwrs on August 23, 2006 at 12:56 PM
I spent 5 years in the UK. I now live in Britany. Manchester is in the northern extreme of the midlands. That what they call it, the midlands. You’d have to cross the Irish sea to get to Ireland. It’s much closer to London than Ireland. It’s not New York to L.A. but by british standards, Ireland is a long way away.
THeDRiFTeR on August 23, 2006 at 1:05 PM
There are a lot of older Brits who learned Urdu and Hindi because they or their parents were posted to British India prior to the end of the colony. Perhaps that old lady understood them all too well.
chsw
chsw on August 23, 2006 at 1:11 PM
They might speak Urdu, but the newspapers sure were speaking PC –
“Asian” = “Young Muslim Males”
kcluva on August 23, 2006 at 1:20 PM
So okay, what did these guys have to do before the other passengers should have been allowed to get off the plane? Rub their hands together and make crashy noises? “EeeeeerrrPKSSSHHHH!! Ha ha ha!” Even that wouldn’t be enough, sounds like.
Jim Treacher on August 23, 2006 at 1:27 PM
These two don’t fit the description I would have given of an “Asian.” Maybe “Persian?”
This incident reminded me of here in Georgia, after 9-11, a woman at a Denny’s restaurant overheard two “Middle-Eastern” men in their 20’s talk about having a bomb and laughing. They were found on their way to a medical hospital in Florida. I recall they were having a “bit of fun” too.
moonsbreath on August 23, 2006 at 3:27 PM
Don’t we just have a case of “he said, she said” with the Asians and the Brits? Not surprisingly, the Brits story seems to put them in a remarkable sympathetic and reasonable light. And yet the Asians’ story seems to put themselves in a favorable light.
We may know for sure exactly what happened on that plane. Both sides may sincerly be telling the truth as they perceive it.
As far as some people saying that the Brits over-reacted, well, after the facts, it appears that might have been the case. But the old saying goes “It’s better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six.” Substitute the disaproval of some for the “Judged by twelve” and you still have a pretty good comparison.
It is inevitable that mistakes like this will happen. That is just the way it goes. But being afraid to make mistakes is not the answer either. I am just speculating here, but I am pretty sure that during the whole 9-11 preparation, someone saw something and thought that maybe they should step in. But then they probably thought it through and just decided to let it go. Like I said, just a speculation on my part.
EFG on August 23, 2006 at 3:48 PM
Just because you drink doesn’t mean you’re not an extremist. Didn’t the 9/11 hijackers frequent strip clubs and bars prior to their evil acts?
This could very well be a big misunderstanding, but that’s part of living life during WWIII. Get used to it. And blame it on terrorists, not concerned citizens.
Isn’t it a bit crass to suggest that just because someone is elderly they can’t hear? Miracle Ear has done wonders for the hearing impaired, and I think the elderly probably have a better sense of how to live during war times than us young and PC ones. However, it IS possible they said “worst 30 minutes” or “longest 30 minutes” rather than “last 30 minutes.”
NTWR on August 23, 2006 at 4:05 PM
AllahPundit gives three possibilities. How about possibility #4: They were on a test run and wanted to see how much suspicion they could arouse.
Oh, yeah. When I was in college on a student budget, I took day trips to Bermuda all the time with a friend to plan for longer trips there. Oh, and I also went there just to go to McDonald’s and booze all day.
We should be commending this woman for vigilance, instead of castigating her.
januarius on August 23, 2006 at 7:05 PM
Asians? Who cares about Asians? It’s muslims we worry about. Especially the combustible kind.
Kim Hartveld on August 24, 2006 at 10:16 AM
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